Zombie Apocalypse
by Turtano98
Summary: Sonic Zombie story, no language, just death and gore go Also added Josh the hedgehog's OC character. PLEASE HEED MY WARNING, THIS NEW CHAPTER AND THE FOLLOWING ONE WILL BE GORY. ANOTHER TERM I WOULD USE IS GRIM/DARK AS F***. With credit to.. you'll know.
1. The Deaths of Millions

The moan came, starting out slow, but its volume rising in intensity, signaling the others. _Come at me, solanumis freaks! You will pay for what you did! _I started to lift my sword, but my friends stopped me. "Too many," said our leader. I agreed, and sheathed my sword. The sheath was studded with jewels of the highest quality. Not that value had any importance. The sword, a katana, slid in noiselessly. Made of tempered steel, and laced with diamond dust, it could cut through anything. Especially a neck or skull. We left, leaving the dead to moan after us.

"I'm going to train some more," I said. The other three in the group watched as I picked up my rifle and climbed to the sniper tower.

They surrounded our compound, moaning, pushing against the fences. I put up my scope, lined up a head shot, and fired. _Boom!_ One went down, but there were still more. I spent an hour working on my headshots, and then went down in front of the fences. They were still moaning, and I went to border of what kept me and my three friends from death. At this range, I brought out my shotgun, a 12-gauge, and fired. They went down as their heads came off, and kept firing reloading, until I became merciless, and stopped aiming at the heads. I wanted them to feel pain, but it didn't matter. They couldn't. I left, knowing that I cleared about half of the zombies away. The leader came down and asked, "Are you okay, Otto?" I replied with "No, Shadow, no, and I never will be." I went inside, into my room, and rested.

The next day, I looked out towards the lake, where two of my closest friends died. I remembered it clearly.

It was going to be a simple task, just a sweep through the lake, nothing big. I am an excellent diver, and so was my friend, A. We dove down off the boat and began searching for any undead that might have wandered in the lake. My other friend, S, who was a cat, stayed up to warn us of any attacks. As we dove, A found a cave that turned upwards so that there was an air pocket. A sat with his back towards the water. We spoke for a while about the traumatizing events. Then, a rotting hand burst out of the water grabbed A by his oxygen tank, and pulled him in. "NO!" I screamed, and dove in the water. But the zombie was already tearing out his skull, and eating his insides. I grabbed my spear gun and shot it through the head. It didn't matter. A was dead. I went up, carrying his body to the surface. S would be broken-hearted. She'd loved him. But when I got to the surface there was another one, tearing out S's throat. Wordlessly, I took my katana from its sheath, and sliced it in half. I tossed the halves off into the lake. I drove the boat to the Compound, sobbing.

In my room, I shed a tear, recalling those events. Shadow, Amy, and Rouge came in. they knew what I was remembering, and they understood. We had all lost loved ones, but no more than me, Otto the Otter.


	2. A Hero Dead

We hunted for any remainder zombies that we could have missed around the compound. All we found was a dead zombie. That wasn't important. What was is who it was. It was Sonic. Amy screamed, and then started to cry. The others mourned him as well. I had never thought of Sonic and me as friends so much as acquaintances. I had always thought him arrogant. And so finding his body was not as effective to me. We all remembered the day he converted.

"We're surrounded!" I shouted. "This could be the end" said Shadow, gunning down the zombies. But more took their place. "I have an idea!" shouted Sonic. I tossed him my other sword, and we went to work, hacking and slashing, slicing the heads off, we were able to make a pathway, with Rouge, Shadow, and Amy shooting any that got too close. S and A used their powers to help. (The lake had not yet happened.) Out of the horde, we raced back away. I estimated the number to be around a Class 3, or 1000 Solanum infected. Class 1 being about five zombies, and Class 4 is the world is over taken. We were living in a Class 4. When we were far enough, we put Sonic's plan to action.

We tied my two swords to his arms, and he raised his arms to about head level. Amy attempted to stop him, but he kissed her, and ran towards the horde. At first, the plan was going perfectly. Zombie heads were rolling everywhere, still gnashing their teeth, trying to bite. Then, it all went horribly wrong. We forgot that zombies, like humans, are not all the same size. The child zombies grabbed at his feet, and he tripped. We heard a scream, and then Sonic ran out, with a bite mark on his arm. "I'm bitten," he panted, untied one of the swords, reached for the other, then passed out. The disease had no cure, and, like rabies, the only treatment for everyone, was death.

We all stood there, shocked, Sonic? Bitten? Our thoughts turned to Amy, but when we turned, she seemed the least affected. She took him to the woods. An hour later, we heard a gunshot. Rouge quickly ducked her head. Shadow sat down, leaning against a tree. S and A suddenly seemed very tired, and looked thousands of years old. Amy came out, staring at oblivion, fell to her knees, and began weeping for her lost love.

Remembering this made me think of something. I turned to the body that once held life, and took the sword that he had once been unable to untie, and took it. My two swords, Alpha and Omega, made of flint and steel, I scraped both together, and the sparks lit his cold, stiff corpse. A cremation, I thought, fitting that the flaming fast hedgehog, who died in a blaze of glory, should leave the world in one as well. I turned to the others, and only realized then that I was crying.


	3. A Mystery Revealed

I walked down the stairs from my room in the Compound. At the bottom of the cold stone stairs, a foyer, that branched off in three directions, with the heavy bolted steel doors leading outside. _Where all my friends died,_ I thought bitterly. _Well, not all of them,_ as I examined the three pathways. The hall going right led to the cafeteria and kitchen, but I wasn't hungry. The one on the left led to the living room, or as it became when we attempted to form a shaky sense of order, The Council Room. No meetings today, and I never attended them anyway. Then, the one next to the Council Room…

It led downstairs, to the rec. room, and then continued down to the base- _NO! There is no basement! Just the rec. room, and the stairs don't go anywhere, just to a locked door. But what if… he's still there?_ I started to giggle maniacally, and then stopped myself. "Just a door…" I ran down to the rec. room, short bursts of that horrible giggling coming out of me. I opened the door of the rec. room, and found Big the Cat hanging from the light fixture, a noose around his neck. I was startled, and then remembered he had always been here, since he had again, lost Froggy. Forever.

Big had once again lost Froggy, and we were just about to start to fight into the Compound, then clear it out. We were camped in the surrounding forest, the people alive then were Shadow, Sonic, S, A, Amy, Rouge, and Big. I thought there was another, but I don't remember. "Froggy!" he shouted. "Where are you Froggy?" he continued shouting. Meanwhile, me and Shadow discussed how to proceed with the raid. "We can't look for Froggy among all those zombies," whispered Shadow. "But we also can't succeed in the raid without Big's help, there are just too many." I answered. "I know that frog means a lot to him but we can't just-" Shadow stopped short. Big had come near us, drawing a breath. "OH GOD RUN!" shouted Shadow, running away with everyone following. Unfortunately, I didn't know Big too well. "FROGGY!" he shouted, directly in my ear.

When I regained consciousness, my ear was throbbing, and there was a distinct ringing in my ears. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" I shouted. "I found Froggy." Big replied. I sat bolt upright. "What?" He pointed. I followed his finger, and found Froggy jumping from zombie head to zombie head. One zombie suddenly grabbed at him. Big suddenly got mad. Quite mad indeed. He charged towards the horde, tearing at the zombies with his claws, throwing them over fifty feet in the air, where they then splattered on the ground. Big's massive bulk made him an easy target, but none of the zombies seemed to get close enough to bite. Thousands of the Solanum monsters surged towards him, but by sundown, Big was the only animate thing left around the Compound. With the outside cleared, we could finally get inside! But, Big was the only animate thing among the horde. That meant Froggy was dead as well.

There weren't any zombies in the rec. room, but about 50 altogether everywhere else, but we hadn't checked the back of the compound. (Where Sonic would die.) But then we found the door to the basement. Yes, I remember, it did exist. But why did we lock it? We opened the door, and found a zombie chained up by its legs, arms, and neck. A was able to figure out that one member of this place was infected, chained, bit one more person, and then it spread all around. A was good with details like that. Rouge knew what to do with it though. "This is the perfect place, _for him._" I turned to Big, silently rocking on the floor. "Froggy," he would occasionally say, then look at his fishing rod.

As I remembered, I found myself punching Big's body, Flesh hitting a cold dead body, and then the laughing started again. That insane, terrible laughter as I beat Big's body.

Big's head looked down, his mouth opened, and said three words I wish had never come. "_To the basement." _Then his body slowly slid out of the noose, and smacked against the floor. Still dead, with no trace of life. I had just been given a message, or hallucinated. But I still walked down to the basement, and saw that the door was not locked, the door was real. The basement was real too. I opened the door. "Oh no," I said, trembling. "_yeeesssssss, and remember, I put the Laughter…_

_In SLAUGHTER" _Then the laughter that was not mine began, as he slowly moved towards me, dragging his chains, now broken. "Knuckles…" I pleaded, then he whipped the chain down, and everything went black.


	4. Revelations

_The energy glowed, then grew, encompassing the group in green light. "The plan is working! We can end this nightmare, and stop the deaths of millions!" The glow became brighter, then it turned a dark purple, then black. "No! Not now! This can't happen! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN! AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH…"_

Darkness was all I could see, driving into me a sheer terror, a desperate need to get away from this void. Then, I heard laughter, more and more, then gunshots, screams and shouts of terror and pain. The doomed sobbing as they slowly succumbed to the disease, those who lost hope, going insane as the laughter filled my mind, till I started laughing too. Then, I could feel the dead, rotting, cold flesh, hear a moan, then feel teeth sink into my flesh. Finally, I saw in the darkness, a small light. It called to me, with the voices of my dead friends. _Otto, _they called. Some of them weeping, reaching out to me, trying to get me to come to them. I realized I wanted, needed to come to them. I would do anything to get there. I started walking forward…

"CLEAR!" _ZAP!_ I jolted. I was laying in one of the beds at the infirmary rooms at the Compound. Yeah, they had everything. I sat up, turned to the faces of my friends, all looking very concerned. Shadow spoke first. "Why did you go into the basement, Otto?" I looked at him, and I realized, he could hypnotize me to believe anything he wanted. He could tell me the basement never existed, and I would believe it. "Why did you keep it from me?" I replied. Then, everything blurred out, red tinged my eyes, and I felt a deep hatred to all who allowed me to live. "_WHY DID YOU LET ME LIVE! YOU SHOULD'VE KILLED ME WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE!" _I grabbed Shadow's neck, and slowly strangled him. "To… give you a…" _"A WHAT! WHAT DID YOU TRY TO GIVE ME!" _"A…chance…to live…again…" I proceeded to squeeze harder. To kill, then to eat. _POW! _I dropped him, then slowly turned, to see Rouge holding a gun. I looked to my chest, to see a large red stain, spreading across my chest. I collapsed, and I revisited the land of the dead.

This time, I was closer. The light was bigger now, and my friends voices louder. I took this time to stop to think. In the infirmary, when I tried to kill Shadow, I said, "You should've killed me." But I was dying, not a threat. Was there another time? Another memory? Then, I remembered, Shadow hypnotized me. He could've erased some memories of mine. But that rage, I had never felt anything like that. It wasn't natural. Not normal. I wanted to kill everything, and then… to eat? I walked towards the light. I was just about to touch it, when I woke up again.

Shadow was in the bed opposite me, unconsciousness. Rouge and Amy were standing at my bed. Holding two pistols in each hand pointed at my head, of course. I was also strapped to the bed with some makeshift belts. Ahh, safety precautions. You make me laugh. Then told me why Shadow was in a bed. "He has a minor puncture in his esophagus, a crack in his collarbone, and my god you are strong, a misalignment in his spine." I thought about this. How did I puncture his throat? I stared at Shadow, then saw where the hole was in his neck. Not since Tails did I see a mark like that… I looked down at my hands, and saw claws, dead flesh, smelled a rotting body, and heard a hideous moan emanating from my throat. I looked up, and saw things of meat. _Good, delicious meat. Must have, Must EAT! What is this thing around me? Bad thing, meat hold bad thing as well, must kill before kill me. Must ESCAPE! _The belts broke and I lunged towards the meat, seeing more meat stand up, red fur, with green crystal, a big one. Kill this one first. I jump, and sink my teeth into meat's neck. The meat laughed. _Tear, Tear, TEAR! _The crystal's light grew, then a flash. Finally, the darkness.

Back in the land of the dead. I did not waste my time getting to the light. "I've committed horrible things in my life. But now that it's over, I can stop hurting people. Now, I can rest." I reached for the light, my friends, and my peace. But the light turned red. My friends became monsters, my peace became my terror, and I knew my crimes were unforgivable. Still, I kept going, knowing I deserved it. I fell into the blood red light and felt a horrible burning pain. I screamed in agony, the pain encompassing my very soul, corrupting it. I realized this was not the land of the dead, but the land of the cursed. "Guess I'm not dead yet," I said.

The pain continued, and I screamed again as it attempted again to corrupt my soul. I felt a pain in my chest, a sharp repeating pain. The darkness left, and I could see my living friends, all okay. I tasted blood, and flesh gripped in my teeth. I felt cold. But I was warming up. Wanted to kill, but the feeling went away. I was safe here, even with the virus in my bloodstream, and a chunk of flesh missing from my right arm. I had been infected for a long time now. Shadow's hypnotism made me believe I wasn't so powerfully, that the virus did not give the aggressive behavior of the other undead. I was a zombie as well. With my consciousness slipping away, I knew that I needed to change that.


	5. Dead Friend, New Mystery

Death. Death was all I could think about, _had_ to think about. If I thought about anything else, I was sure I would go crazy. I had come to terms with being undead. I realized this meant I had three to five years left before I decomposed like all the other zombies in the world. Dead bodies decompose, even if they're still moving. So the zombie threat would be gone in about that time. And me with it.

Being a zombie explained a lot of things, actually. Like how when S died, the zombie eating her did not attack me. And why Shadow always said I shouldn't eat too much. My intestinal wall could break. Shadow did explain how it happened at least.

We were all walking away from the ruins of the city, thinking if we made it to the old Compound, we would be safe. The ones that survived did enjoy luxuries such as eating good food, having a fair chance of surviving all day, and enjoy a warm bed without having to worry about a night attack. I thought of all the innocents that died at the hands of the zombie menace. The hardworking men, the loving women, and sadly, the deaths of hundreds of children. I wondered how many parents had died when they thought their child could come back. How many family members killed by a converted brother, sister, or parent. I thought of Tails, of Cream and Vanilla, and of my previous family. _Erik,_ I thought. He'd idolized Tails. _Tails…_

We all thought it was the best idea. We had just come from the city, escaped, and could still hear the screams and gunshots, even a mile away. It was in flames, and the zombies were too. The sounds haunted us, even as we moved away. We set up camp for the night in a farmhouse, thought we heard something moving, but when we looked for it, we didn't see anything. Locked all doors, shut all windows, kept a guard shift of two people for two hours each. There were ten of us then. No incidents that night, and we set up a base camp. Everything was going well, though some food and other supplies were going missing. We assumed it was rats. We were able to salvage some farm tools, and a couple fields still had crops. We were setting up a tower in the barn nearby, and I had the only rifle. So, I was called to sniper duty. I didn't get much in the winter, but in the summer, I had to keep extra ammo cases up there so I didn't miss a zombie. A said the reason there were less in the winter was because their muscles were frozen stiff, so they were slower. S was the zombie expert among our group, as he had been in the research lab when the plague broke out.

The perfect idea was that we could make a quick raid to the airport, salvage some supplies, and maybe radio for help. The idea of rescue was so appealing then, that we never thought of what could go wrong. _**EPIC FORESHADOW…**_

The raid was slow, and we were making little progress, due, according to A, that people would come to airport as an escape, and it would be full of zombies. This was true, and there were definitely too many. I was standing about ten feet behind the others, killing with my rifle, occasionally hitting two heads at the same time. My accuracy could not have been better. The gunfire, the moans, and the adrenaline, was all near the edge of bliss at that moment. "Is it weird that I have a boner right now?" I shouted. Shadow replied, "It'd be weird if you didn't!" We slowly moved forward through the hoard, and we found something wonderful. "BAZOOKAS! WE CAN WIN! WE FEEL GREAT! WE. CAN. DO. THIS!" shouted Sonic. I grabbed the only one, and ran back. The others followed. The support columns were weakened from numerous bullets. I took my aim. "Eat this you son of a b-" I fired, and everything seemed to slow down. The horde moved forward. The missile moved away from the horde and into the main supporting column. The explosion was deafening, and the roof began to collapse. "RUN!" I shouted, and we did. A, Amy, Big, S, Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, Tails, and I, ran towards the exit. We made it out fine, and almost all zombies were crushed. I picked off the stragglers, and we headed back to the ruins. "Hey, what's that?" I turned to look where Big was pointing and saw a silhouette in a ditch. "Probably just a body," I said. We moved towards the airport once again, and passed the air field.

"Hey guys? Why don't we just fly somewhere else? We don't have to stay here. Right?" Big asked. I turned and immediately walked toward the air field. "Tails, you can fly a plane, right?" I asked. "Yeah, why? Ohhhh, now I understand," We ran for the nearest passenger plane. We climbed inside, and took our seats. Tails came out of the cockpit. "I need a co-pilot. Shadow? Can you do it?" Shadow nodded. As they climbed into the cockpit, I felt excited. "We can finally go somewhere! Where they might not have zombies!" We all cheered. None of us noticed the quick dart of silver and blue slip into the plane. No one but me. But I didn't care. Didn't want to care. We were so close to freedom, could I even start to believe that it would all go downhill?

The flight went well. The clear skies, the lack of turbulence, and just the overall feeling of success made us feel giddy. We joked and laughed, and talked about a new life. The landing was great, the airport was only slightly infested, and, when we found a map, found a prison compound that we could walk to! Everything was looking up. Some of us started crying tears of joy. As we were getting of the plane, "Hold on," Tails said happily, as another quick flash of silver and blue went past us towards the wheels. "I need to go to the men's room," Tails raced towards the plane bathroom, and we waited. And waited. And waited. We got worried. Big went to go look. We heard him open the door, and a loud banging as something hit a wall. We all raced in the plane, to the little bathroom at the end of the plane, and saw Big pounding a zombie into pulp. "Where's Tails?" Sonic asked. Sonic walked right up to Big and shouted, "WHERE'S TAILS?" Big cringed, and pointed at the bloody, gory mess on staining the floor. I looked, and saw, but did not comprehend. Tails was not dead. It was impossible. This was supposed to be our sanctuary. This was not happening. But it was. I looked towards the zombie that did this to him. It was also dead. Tails probably killed before it bit him. Suddenly, I saw something. A small hole in the head. Made by a sword. Not mine, not a curved slit, a straight, clean hole right in the center. Only a true swordsman could make that killing blow. This person would have risked their life to save Tails. This person, could teach me. This person could tell me all kinds of secret techniques. That meant… someone else had a sword. Someone else was on the plane. And I needed to know who. I raced out of the plane, face pale. I only caught a glimpse of the silver, blue striped swordsman before he slipped away.


	6. I'm Having So Much FUN!

I've been thinking more and more about the benefits of suicide. I will no longer have to review the memories of my dead friends. I will no longer have to think about the few years I have left before I decompose. I will not have to look at myself and remember, _I'm one of them._ But there are some things that keep me from doing it today. I will cause my living friends much grief as another one dies. I will never find out who attempted to protect Tails in the plane. But there is one thing I know that makes me want to die the most. _He's here._

I approached the fence. From I could see, the zombies would gather around the fence, until the people inside cleaned 'em out. I was lucky, it looked like it had already been done. There were no zombies at the fence. Yet. I looked over the massive building. The huge size, the enormous fences, and the sniper tower. It all made sense. These people were living in a prison. It was genius, it had protection, a sniper tower, and it looked like they had some farming fields as well. _Endless food supply, _I thought. This would be a great place to stay, if they would allow me.

I thought of the deaths of all my friends as I looked out the window. It had all started with my own hubris. I had used Mephiles and Eggman. But they died in an incident that was my fault. First them, then Cream and her mother Vanilla. Tails died after, killed by one remaining zombie. One I should've seen. Then it was Knuckles, who went insane after a failed attempt at time reversal. I'd known it was risky, and I was the one who tore his throat out. Sonic was the next to die, killed by my own foolishness. Then it was Big, who committed suicide, after _I_ lost Froggy, I was supposed to be watching him. Finally, the death of S and A, my two closest friends. The underwater clearing was my plan to make the three of us heroes. I thought of the deaths of thousands of people. All by my own, cursed, foolish plan to raise the dead. And where am I now? Dead, like everyone else on this godforsaken world of the dead! Even though they would die out, I would disappear with them. My name would be cursed and forgotten. As they buried or burned my evil body they would say, "You deserve this," That's when I saw _him _again.

I looked around once more, trying to take in every detail. I felt nervous. If this went anything like the last time, I would have a hole in my head. I got down low, hearing something. Two people walked by. It was a black hedgehog and a bat. They were talking, and I slowly moved to get a better look. Suddenly, I realized these were the people who were on the plane I snuck on! But, that meant- _That fox, he would've been here, if I hadn't failed. I know someone saw me, and they probably hate me now, too. I can't face them aga- _I stopped, suddenly feeling very, very, calm. This allowed me to collect my thoughts. Even if someone did see me, it was unlikely they could place that I tried to help that young fox. Probably, they all moved on. Now, how do I make my approach? I can't just jump out, they'd kill me in seconds. Maybe if I waited till they left, then I could approach the fence, and get their attention. If I could convince them that I was a valuable team member, I would be safe. I thought of how I became calm so quickly. I could feel no emotions. I felt, however, energy. I looked to see where it was coming from, and immediately my emotions came back. Fear, Excitement, Joy, and Anxiety. I felt nervous, and giddy. I was looking at the person who saw me. He was in a window, looking at me, concentrating on me, but then, he quickly ducked out of sight.

So, he's here. I thought this would happen. I looked at him, thinking. He was a silver hedgehog, with a single blue stripe starting at his forehead, and continuing up his center quill. He had with him a backpack obviously filled with supplies, and two guns. A Karg8K semi-automatic rifle and a type-100 SMG. But there was one more thing, slung at his hip. It looked like a sword sheath. Another Swordsman! He looked experienced, but, _Why was he here? _I thought._ Are his intentions good? Or does he plan to kill us, one by one, to take the Compound? Wait, he's panicking. If he doesn't calm down, he'll be shot! _ I focused my energy, reached out into his mind, and drained him of emotions. It wasn't permanent, just something to calm people down. It also gave me more energy. While searching his mind, I saw an emotion, felt it, and knew I would never experience it again. Serenity. I did not dare take this emotion, fearing it would be gone forever, not wanting him to be like me. He became calm, and he thought. From his thoughts, I learned he was not of malicious intent. When he seemed satisfied, I released the emotions I took, and he panicked, became excited, happy, and anxious at the same time. He suddenly looked up at me, and I quickly ducked out of sight. _I wish to fight him, not to the death, but to see if I'm the only one trained in swordplay._ This idea appealed to me. I went to speak with Shadow, Amy, and Rouge.

I watched them start to leave, when a pink hedgehog ran up to them, looking breathless. She gabbled something to them, and they seemed intrigued. They ran back towards the prison, through the doors, which they shut with a loud _CLANG._ I cursed, then realized I would have to stay out one more night. _Wait, but I can't, there's something coming that only I know about! They have to know. NOW! _I ran up to the fence and started to climb it, but at the top, there were barbed wire. I looked carefully at it, for a break somewhere I could get through. _Here! _I climbed through, and jumped down on the other side of the fence. _Now, I just have to warn them and-_ I was cut off in my thinking as three guns appeared at the sniper tower. "GOD, DANGIT!" I yelled and stood. I waited for them to fire. They never did. I watched as a single person jumped off the prison roof. They quickly pulled out _both _swords attached to their back, jammed one into the concrete wall, which pulled out as they fell, and they twisted around and grabbed a window ledge, wall jumped off, back flipped and landed in front of me. "Freakin' showoff," I muttered. I got a good look at the person. He was an otter, with an enormous grin, wearing some ripped jeans, and two swords in his hands. I looked at the one he jammed in to the wall, and saw no damage at all. One had tinges of blue, among the steel, and the other looked to be made of flint. I looked at him. "Hello," he said. "My name is Otto, and I saw you running from the plane where Tails died. I paled. "I am not angry with you, in fact I'm grateful you tried to help our friend," he said. "Now, I wish to challenge you to a swordfight." He swept his swords directly toward my neck.

I called everyone to the Council room, and the three people left alive in life asked me what was wrong. "Nothing's wrong," I said. "I just wanted to tell you that I have decided to not end my life," The others looked at me, and they all looked relieved. "However," I continued, "This will only be permanent if the hedgehog standing outside can get inside," Shadow and Rouge's jaws dropped. "How we miss that? I can always sense people," Shadow muttered, looking confused. "Not if they have no emotions," I said, feeling smug. This was hilarious, and I could also have a sparring partner an possible teacher! "What are you- Ohhhh," Rouge, finally understanding. "Wait, WHY'D YOU COVER FOR THIS CREEP! WHAT IF HE PLANS TO KILL US!" shouted Shadow. "I think you know that I would not cover for any person, without checking their intent. He just wants to stay. And also, I wish to fight him," I replied. Shadow looked angry, then calmed down, and said, "Fine, but me, Rouge, and Amy will be in the sniper tower if anything goes wrong," "Don't worry, I'll be fine," I picked up my swords, and began walking upstairs, to jump off a building. I started humming to myself, and realized I was smiling.


	7. Making Friends: Part 1

**Authors note: The last chapter and this one switches between the perspectives of Otto the Otter and Josh the hedgehog. I will do this from now on, unless there are complaints. This chapter will start with Josh's.**

I ducked his attack, brought up my sword, clashing into his, sending sparks as they hit. Otto was knocked back, and took this moment for respite. "Let's see," he said, calm as anything, though his face betrayed excitement. "You have one greatsword, heavy and strong, mainly used for a last result, as the small amount of dried blood on it. This is the most fun I've had in years!" he said as he swung down his flint sword. I deflected, and more sparks shot out, farther and bigger. They landed by a glistening liquid. It caught fire, and spread in a tactical manner, all around the border of the prison. I could hear the middle sniper at the top swearing from down here. We paused again. "You're insane!" I shouted. "No," he replied. "I'm Undead," he said as he brought down his sword onto mine with a strength that should not have been possible after those attacks.

As the stranger ducked, and countered, I felt incredibly giddy. He was so good at this! Finally, someone who could defeat me! What was going through my mind was an overload of excitement. My movements became faster as the energy flowed through me. I paused, and made an assessment of his sword, looking for possible weaknesses. When I found none, my smile grew wider. I made a quick glance towards the last defense kerosene line, and swung my flint sword, Omega. Like I expected, he deflected, and the sparks landed right where I needed them. The fire spread all around the prison, setting any zombies who might have broken through the fence on fire. But I just used it for looks. This battle was going wondrously, and so I brought down Alpha, my diamond laced sword, and swung it at his with all my might. Which was a lot, since I didn't get tired.

_Undead, _I thought. _Then how does he speak? How is he a swordsman? And why isn't he just charging me, like the rest? _Then his sword hit mine. The jarring impact sprained my arm, and I dropped my sword. _Huh, _I thought. _Let's see, I'm on ground in front of and undead insane swordsman otter, with INTELLEGENCE, and cut off from escape by a barbed wire fence, and a wall of fire._ Not exactly boosting morale, but I'd been in worse situations. I looked at him, and realized he seemed disappointed. He turned around, and started walking away. I grabbed my sword and swung it at his neck. He turned around so fast it's like he expected me. He ducked, and brought up his swords to my neck in a scissoring position. If I moved, he could slice my neck in a second. Again, he was disappointed. "I wish you were better at fighting," he said. "Yeah," I replied. "Same goes for you," He looked confused. "What?" he said. "Look down," I replied. My sword was in his chest, directly at his heart. He looked up, and seemed, to my bewilderment, happy. If anything, this made more excited than ever. "Yes!" he cheered. "This is great!" Then he _stepped toward me, _driving the sword farther in, till he was directly in front of me. He sheathed his swords, and extended his hand. "Friends?" he asked. I

fainted.

After the battle, the stranger fainted, so I had to carry him to the infirmary. "Oh, this is going to be great! He's a better swordsman than me, so he can teach me new techniques!" I said. "GOD I LOVE THIS!" Shadow, Amy, and Rouge came running down from the tower. "Are you alright? We saw you get stabbed!" said Amy. Shadow was less concerned with me, and more about killing my new friend. Rouge obviously felt the same way, but at least made me get in a bed so she could sew me back up. After a while, the hole was gone, or stitched together, so I got up, and looked at the stranger. He was conscious, and staring at me. Since he didn't have a hole in his head, Amy must have convinced them to not kill him. After a while, he spoke. "So, um, you're a zombie?" "Yep," I said. "I was bitten, but Shadow here was able to hypnotize me so I thought I never was, and I eventually regained all control. But I'll still rot and die like all the other zombies. So, what's your name?" He stared at me, then stammered out, "My name is Josh," Then he grabbed my sword and stabbed me in the throat. "I LIKE HIM ALREADY!" I said. He fainted again.

**Author's Note: I hope you like this style of writing, and I will accept constructive criticism.**


	8. Making Friends: Part 2

_The zombie who called himself Otto, he was hypnotized so he didn't take the ravenous hunger the others did. He was bitten by a zombie, his friend Knuckles, who he killed in a moment of rage, and almost killed Shadow, the black hedgehog. SO WHY WERE THEY KEEPING HIM ALIVE? Oh, wait, he's their dearest friend. And he was perfect for fighting zombies, since zombies don't attack zombies. So, he was a friend, a perfect zombie weapon, and he would disappear eventually. Good, I guess. But because of the vow I made, I can never be his friend. _These were the thoughts I went through while unconscious. These were the thoughts I needed to think, so I didn't become too attached to him. He was my enemy, a temporary ally, for the sake of survival. The vow, my sacred Oath, I made to my friends before they all died.

"So, how long till he wakes up?" I asked, feeling as giddy as a school boy. I couldn't help it. Here was something _new,_ something I could talk to, and he would speak back. It would be a break from monotonous three or five years. He was far better than me, so he could train me if he wanted. That would be a best-case scenario, though, so I wasn't counting on it. Rouge was the one to answer my question. "Maybe an hour or two, depending on his physical condition," "He looks fine to me," I said. "I'll just take him to the rec. roo-" I stopped. I hadn't been to the rec. room since Knuckles. I was worried my hysteria would take over again, and I would kill my new best friend. "Maybe one of you should come with me," I said, feeling uneasy. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Amy stood up. "I'll go, I'm the second best at close combat, and can restrain you if you… change." She said the last part with the same unease as I felt. **And I've been meaning to develop her character more anyway.** "Okay," I agreed. "But only if you promise to not hold back and kill me if you to. This guy, Josh, is a better swordsman than me, and probably a better fighter too, surviving on his own like that." Amy made her promise, and we went down to the rec. room, dragging Josh's unconscious body down the stairs.

Though I was unconscious, I could still feel a little of what was around me. But, as far as I knew, the only thing that was going on was pain. _Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! Why am I falling a short distance then being abruptly halted in my descent by a firm, tough object that has the hardness of rock? Oh, wait, that description follows stairs. Why am I being dragged down stairs! Wait, my consciousness! MINE! _**Authors Note: You cannot be aware of anything while unconscious. Just thought that was interesting. **I awoke, then found myself confronted with Otto's face. "AAAUUGH!" I screamed, and Otto's grin just got wider. I started to faint, but Otto slapped me, still grinning. "Were you going to faint again?" he asked. "Nope, just Chuck Testa," I replied. That grin was starting to get on my nerves. He burst out laughing. "I remember that joke!" he said, laughing so hard he doubled over. "Anyway," he said, suddenly serious. Through this door is something that could make me want to eat you, Amy, he gestured to a pink hedgehog next to him that I only now noticed. "Nice to meet you," she said, and we shook hands. "Now, are you ready to enter the rec. room?" he said. I didn't see anything wrong with this, but Amy seemed nervous, almost, _scared._ What was in there that was so terrible? Otto looked nervous too, but then concentrated, and I felt all doubts and fears go away. The same thing must've happened to Amy, because she also seemed calmer. We opened the door, and I gasped. _Oh my God, so this is why everyone was scared. His fat friend, that purple cat, hung himself. _The body swung on the ceiling, like some sick, twisted chandelier. His peaceful look calmed me some. Then they opened.

I stared at the body. Big's body. Dead, like my own. But still different. I could still move, talk communicate, and hold a gun. But those hands would never move again. I thought of when I almost died. The light holding all my friends, and leading to my rest. How it was all just a trick. I would not be going to a better place. I would be going to Hell. The Underworld. The land of the Damned. Whatever you called it, I would be going there. I let this sink in. I felt panic, and despair, and the want to make others feel the same. Then it passed. I wondered if Big went there. _I doubt it, _I thought. _If anyone would go to rest, it would be him. _This reassured me. Then I looked at Amy's face. She looked very shocked, as if she had never seen it before. Hadn't she? I looked at Josh, who was very pale. Suddenly he shouted and fell backwards on the ground. Amy screamed, then started to run from the room. I quickly grasped both of their minds, and pulled out the fear, and used it to fuel my energy. I found it quite sickening, me feeding off their emotions. But it was necessary. I had to keep them calm. Amy turned around and walked back in the room. Josh slowly got up. "What's wrong?" I asked. Amy pointed, but seemed unable to speak. Josh was the one who spoke first. "Look behind you," he said. I turned, and found Big's eyes staring at all of us. Slowly they moved, looking at us with dead eyes. I didn't flip out. I knew this was a sort of prophet moment. Big was returning from the dead to send a message. Then I remembered, he'd fallen from the rope the last time I was here.

I could not believe it. This person could not be alive. That rope was cutting off any oxygen. He should be dead! _So should Otto, _I thought. Is he another zombie? But Otto didn't seem fazed by this. He looked completely at ease. Did this always happen? No, Amy's still freaking out. Otto was still pulling away our fear, which I was grateful for. Then Otto's face changed. It went from thoughtful to confused. Then he looked nervous. "What's wrong? I thought you were used to this stuff!" I asked. He turned, another serious look on his face. "This is my friend Big. The first time I went down here, his eyes opened and he told me to go to the basement. That was when I found out I was a zombie. However," he continued, "When he told me to go to the basement, Big slid down out of the noose onto the floor." He said. I was confused. "What does that have to do with anything?" asked Amy. She was still calm, but I could tell that if Otto wasn't calming her, she'd be gone. "Think," said Otto. "If he fell to the floor, then how did he get back up there?" I looked at Otto, mouth agape, and then to Big. The body swung as it attempted to get out. It fell to the floor with a thud. It slowly stood up, and grabbed my by my sides. It brought me to its face, and its mouth started to open. Otto had a look of a flashback, and then ran from the room with Amy. _Cowards! _I thought. I looked at the body one more time, its mouth now huge. _This is it, _I thought. "I FOUND FROGGY!" it shouted. I fainted.


	9. The Steps To Insanity: Part 1

Otto was laughing. He had not laughed in a while. He hadn't found anything to laugh at. But this was _hilarious_. Big had been bitten, and maybe Shadow had come down here, and done the same to Big as to him. _Oh, Shadow does have a devious mind, indeed. Maybe he has some other friends still "alive". _Suddenly, Otto had a thought. He started to shout, "S! S can come back! And so can A! This is great!" Amy was looking faint. "Oh," she said. "Then, that meant, Sonic…" Otto realized what this meant. Why Shadow was hesitant to cremate Sonic. Why they had left Sonic in the forest. But who killed him again? Otto's eyes drifted towards Josh's unconscious body. Otto picked him up, hoping he would wake soon. "Hey Big," said Otto. Big turned his head toward Otto. "Where'd you find Froggy?" Big looked at him, staring, as if not comprehending. And then realizations flooded his mind. Big stood up slowly. He picked up Amy, who made no protest, as she was weeping for Sonic, who would never return. The two of them, Big and Otto, each carrying something they couldn't lose, became closer friends in the Rec. Room. The stairs seemed longer, higher.

Or maybe it was just the challenge of losing someone twice.

Josh still hadn't woken. Rouge explained why. "When we first met him, he was already weak from hunger. Then you two had a swordfight, which was more physically exhausting when he found out you were dead." Big wondered why Otto and Josh fought, they seemed like they would be good friends. But there was something in Josh's eyes, the way he walked, that gave something away. He seemed too, _pity, _Otto. Big wondered what was going through Josh's mind right now. **Meanwhile, in Josh's mind… **_MAKE THE RINGING IN MY HEAD STOP! THE NOISE! THE NOISE! Oh, yeah, the fat guy is a zombie too. HOW MANY ZOMBIES ARE THERE! Meh, just another one on my list. BACK TO MY PREVIOUS PAIN! AUUGGGHHHH, THE HORRIBLE AGONY OF IT ALL!_ **End the visit to Josh's mind. **Big shrugged, and thought, _probably nothing._ Otto was worried. "What do you mean, he's weak from hunger? He seemed fine to me," said Otto, who was getting exasperated. Rouge gave him a stern look. "Oh please," she said, "like you know what it means to be eating. You're all skin and bones," she added teasingly. Otto didn't laugh. In fact, he seemed annoyed. "This is the person who made decide I wouldn't kill myself. I doubt this is a joking matter, and I expect you, Rouge, to be serious about this, or I _will _get angry," Otto's expression remained placid, but his voice dripped with venom. Rouge paled when he mentioned his anger. Otto had also been able to hide his anger away in his mind. But sometimes it boiled over. Only twice, actually, and both had ended in deaths. Shadow walked in, looking furious. "Why did you take Big from the Rec. Room! Did you only think of yourself? Think! What will happen now? What if Big loses it, like you did! Maybe Amy will be the next, or Rouge. DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOURSELF! –ulp" Shadow was being lifted off the ground. Otto was holding him by the neck again. Otto's eyes blazed with anger, and veins were bulging out of his fur, clearly visible. Otto's hands were not strangling him, but the position was right for him to snap his neck easily. Otto spoke again, with barely contained anger in his voice, and his face resembled a person beyond all reasoning. He wanted blood. _Was he becoming a zombie again? _Thought Shadow. _No, his eyes still have intelligence. He's- He's in a rage._ Shadow felt something he hadn't felt for awhile. Fear. It was flooding through him. He was panicking. He thrashed, and Otto seemed amused by this, as though the idea of escape was ridiculous. Otto lowered down Shadow to eye level, brought his face close to Shadow's, and whispered, "You can't get away, you know. All you can do is make this more enjoyable for me. I can't feel pain, so you can't attack me. Look at my eyes. Do you think you can reason with me? No. Rouge and Big can't help you either. Look at them." Shadow craned his head around Otto's, and gasped. Rouge was unconscious, lying in a pool of blood. A small hole in the leg told why. Big was hanging again, thrashing against his bonds. Shadow felt more afraid then ever. He couldn't think straight. Never once did it occur to him to use chaos control. He was that afraid. "Why," Shadow asked. "Why would you do this to us? How did you get to them so fast?" Otto eyes narrowed. "You've seen me rage before," he said, madness creeping into his eyes. "I move faster, I gain strength. And I want blood," he said. "And I have an idea," he said, licking his lips. Shadow paled, and Otto raised his fist. Otto brought it down on his face. Everything when dark.

**Author's Note: If you have a weak stomach, extreme hatred of gore, or are a decent human being, you may not be ready to read the following paragraph.**

Shadow opened his eyes, and found himself tied to a wall, held there by leather straps. It was a small concrete room. It was… decorated in so many horrific ways. Shadow could not believe it. The room was dimly lit by small torches made from fingers of zombies, dipped in oil, then lit. They hung from the ceiling, leaking liquid fire onto a table made of bone, flesh still attached to it, rotting. Dried blood was collected around a drain, and the room stank of death, and decay. Chairs also made of bone, had organs filled with helium, and tied to the back of chairs. Dried entrails decorated the ceiling like sick and twisted party streamers. A banner made from skin with words carved into hung from every wall of the room. On it was inscribed, _Experimentation Room_. Shadow recoiled at each new horror he saw. Finally, he saw that his other friends were trapped and restrained too. Amy, Rouge, Big, even S and A were there. Next to him was Josh, fully conscious and panicking, desperately trying to escape. "Don't even bother," said Shadow to Josh. Josh looked at him with fearful eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked. Shadow looked away, saying, "When Otto gets into a rage, his strength, speed, and intelligence increase by a hundred fold. He's _the_ most dangerous thing on the planet, possibly the universe," Shadow suddenly looked up, a grim expression on his face. "And he wants blood. Lots of it. And I think there's enough blood between all of us to quench his thirst." Josh paled even more, and let out a hysterical laugh. "I never should have come here. First I fight a zombie otter, and faint. Then I awake to find that he's in a group, with people working with him. I attempt to kill him, fail, and faint. I wake up _again_, and he's talking to some fat oracle zombie, who picks me up and tells me he found a frog, then faint. Now I'm awake, and I think this will be the last time I'm awake," Josh turned his head to Shadow, and asked, "Why does he experiment on the zombies?" Shadow sighed. "To be honest, I had no idea he was doing this. Though I think it's his rage, not really him. And about the experimentation," Shadow's voice lowered. "Before all this, the zombie epidemic, Otto was a scientist. He was brilliant, and had thousands of ideas to benefit us all. He found a way to convert small pieces of matter into pure energy, providing almost infinite energy. He was a good person, kind to everybody, and a jokester. Always had a way to cheer you up," Shadow said, looking distant. Perhaps remembering better times. Josh was confused. "So, how did all this happen? What could have possibly happened that made him so, insane?" he asked. Shadow continued. "He had an accident. He was working on another matter-energy conversion. He was alone, besides me, and I didn't want him to do this right now, not so late when we were so tired. But he wouldn't listen. Said it was important. He also made a crack about a shadow being tired." Shadow chuckled a bit at this, apparently remembering. "He was working really fast, faster than I'd seen him work before. But then…" Shadow's voice dropped off, as a door creaked open. A metal cart entered. It was covered by a white sheet. It was pushed in by Otto. He was grinning. It wasn't his good natured, somewhat infuriating grin he was famous for, but an evil grin. A grin that said, _You're going to die, and I will be there, laughing. Laughing at how pathetic you all are. And I will make sure you're awake to watch it all._ Otto injected adrenaline into the others, awaking them, except for Big, S, and A, who clearly didn't need it. Amy took one look and screamed, filling the room with a horrible, heart-wrenching sound. Otto lifted his head from the cart, unfazed, seeming to drink in the terror that was around him. And he seemed to enjoy every second of it. Rouge was pale, slowly losing it, obviously in denial. Otto turned away from the cart, and addressed his audience. "So," he said, that horrible grin still on his face. "Who's first?"


End file.
